Tree Blog

Quercus kelloggii | Stanford

For many decades a Q. kelloggii grew outside the Frost Amphitheater on the Stanford University campus. In this location several unusual were growing, forming a small experimental oak grove, and appear to date to the original planting of the Stanford Arboretum in the late 1800’s. Observing this California Black Oak in the early 2000’s, heavy fungal leaf infections were noted each year. The disease appeared to be oak anthracnose, though it was never positively identified. By late summer each year the tree was nearly fully defoliated. The tree has subsequently been removed as part of a renovation of this area. The remainder of the unusual oaks were kept, suggesting the tree was removed because of the disease problems noted here. This photo, showing a few leaves and some rarely-produced acorns, are all that remain. In an arboretum setting there could be long-term educational value in putting “gravestones” on the trees which failed, noting the reason for their removal. Otherwise, critical evaluational information is lost to the ages.